Concert preview: Expect a heavy dose of the classics when Maze featuring Frankie Beverly hits town

Wednesday

Nov 13, 2013 at 12:01 AMNov 13, 2013 at 11:26 PM

Philadelphia-born Frankie Beverly launched the long-running R&B/funk crew as Raw Soul in 1970, and the name serves as a fitting description of the band's sound, which veers from strutting funk numbers ("Workin' Together") to comparatively smooth jams like "We Are One," a synthesizer-stoked slow dance anchored by Beverly's smoky baritone.

Philadelphia-born Frankie Beverly launched the long-running R&B/funk crew as Raw Soul in 1970, and the name serves as a fitting description of the band’s sound, which veers from strutting funk numbers (“Workin’ Together”) to comparatively smooth jams like “We Are One,” a synthesizer-stoked slow dance anchored by Beverly’s smoky baritone.

Expect the evening to draw heavily on the band’s classic era, considering the crew hasn’t released an album of new material since Back to Basics surface in 1993, and its last three releases, according to Wikipedia, are Greatest Hits (2011), Greatest Hits (2004) and Greatest Slow Jams (1998). Not that there’s anything wrong with that. These are the kind of throwback, soul-steeped burners that had stand-up comic Steve Harvey kicking over stools in “The Original Kings of Comedy.”